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'Mellowed' Ortega sworn into office

MANAGUA–Former revolutionary Daniel Ortega was sworn in as Nicaragua's president yesterday, completing his two-decade fight to return to power with promises to maintain relations with the United States while building a leftist coalition with some of Washington's major foes.

Daniel Ortega, left, celebrates his inauguration as president of Nicaragua with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez. Ortega was Nicaragua’s anti-U.S. leader in the 1980s and, after softening his stance, won presidential elections in November. (REUTERS / OSWALDO RIVAS)

By Traci CarlAssociated Press

Thu., Jan. 11, 2007

MANAGUA–Former revolutionary Daniel Ortega was sworn in as Nicaragua's president yesterday, completing his two-decade fight to return to power with promises to maintain relations with the United States while building a leftist coalition with some of Washington's major foes.

Ortega took the oath of office at a plaza he constructed as president in the 1980s – where he conceded electoral defeat to Violeta Chamorro in 1990 after a turbulent decade in power marked by food rationing and civil war.

Ortega led Nicaragua throughout the 1980s after his Sandinista rebel movement pushed out dictator Anastasio Somoza. Following his 1990 loss, he ran for president three times, losing twice before triumphing in November.

Wearing his signature white button-down shirt – his military fatigues abandoned – the balding Ortega, 61, isn't the same fiery revolutionary who allied with the Soviet Union and fought off the U.S.-backed Contra rebel insurgency. He has promised moderate economic and social policies and continued ties with the U.S.

President George W. Bush and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez are fighting for influence in this former Cold War battleground, both promising aid while pushing vastly different prescriptions for one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere.

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Chavez, who arrived just hours after he was sworn in for another six-year term in his own country, has promised the impoverished nation 32 badly needed electricity plants, low-interest loans to the poor and help improving Nicaragua's health and education systems.

Chavez and Ortega embraced and chatted after the inauguration, and, in brief remarks, the Nicaraguan leader thanked Chavez for coming.

Another guest was Bolivian President Evo Morales, a close ally of Chavez and Castro. Morales, who has expressed doubts about U.S. drug war efforts in South America, welcomed Ortega to the growing club of Latin leftists.

"Daniel Ortega's win gives strength and hope not only to Nicaragua but to all of Latin America," Morales said.

Castro did not attend because of his health, but Ortega has already sought close ties with the Communist island, attending Castro's delayed 80th birthday celebrations in December. Castro, who backed Ortega during his first presidency, sent his "utmost support" in a letter delivered by revolutionary leader Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, Cuba's representative at the inauguration.

The U.S. has reluctantly welcomed Ortega's promises to respect private property and continue free trade agreements.

Late Tuesday, Ortega chatted with Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, who was heading the U.S. inaugural delegation. Before entering a private, 30-minute meeting, the two exchanged pleasantries about the weather and expressed their desire to maintain strong ties.

"I want to make very clear that our desire is to work with you," Leavitt told Ortega, who said he hoped the visit was the "first of several" and described a phone call he had with Bush on Monday as a "very pleasant and positive conversation.''

The U.S. government so despised Ortega during the 1980s that aides to president Ronald Reagan secretly sold arms to Iran's Islamic government to finance clandestine aid for Contra rebels trying to overthrow Ortega.

Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, who followed Ronald Reagan as president, sneeringly described Ortega as "this little man" and as an "unwanted animal at a garden party" when both attended a Central American summit in 1989.

Under Ortega's first rule, Nicaragua fell into economic chaos under radical economic policies that included property seizures.

The country has progressed since those days. Thousands of American retirees call Nicaragua home, and the country is poised to benefit from the newly implemented Central American Free Trade Agreement. Ortega has promised to respect that pact, along with private businesses.

Business leaders are optimistic he will keep his word. There are few signs of investor flight.

Jay Walsh, a 53-year-old Fort Lauderdale, Fla., resident who owns Snooky's bar in Managua with two other Americans, said Ortega has changed. "I think he's mellowed as far as his anger toward the United States. But I don't think he's totally forgiven the U.S. government.''

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